1st - 4th July. Cairns.
-De ja vu in the rainforest.

And so we came full circle...a very small circle, but a circle none the less. It's only been a month and a half since we were last in Cairns and there's a definate feeling of 'haven't we already done this?' as we move through the city and into the hostel, Dreamtime Travellers Rest, exactly the same place we were at last time. At very least we've not got the same room, so the spell is broken somewhat. Last time we were here we did very little indeed and this time...well, not actually that great an ammount I'm afraid...but still much more than last time! A fair bit of our time was taken up with small tasks such as buying some new socks (I'm surprised you haven't asked about my supply of these Mum!), putting photos onto disc and picking up a tuner for my uke so I can, you know, actually play the thing.

The main 'big thing' we did, and the reason we've backtracked up north to Cairns in the first place, was a daytrip to Daintree National Park. I started to get a little nervous when the minibus was a touch late but it showed up in the end and I was relieved to find it wasn't massive and nor were there many backpacker types going, perhaps owing to us having not taken the totally dirt cheap option (for once!) My distaste of tours, and increasingly backpackers, is unfairly extreem most of the time and, whilst I wouldn't want to do things like it too frequently or with greater numbers than this, I must say I enjoyed this day very much. Our driver/guide, called Shane, was very friendly and knowledgable, despite only having been in the job two months! and gave us some commentary as we drove north.

The first place we stopped was billed a 'nature refuge.' Shane captured the essence better in the less evasive term 'zoo.' This would not turn out to be a good start to the day, in fact it was the definate low point. Confined animals. Small spaces (especially the crocodiles that its a wonder could turn around.) Not good. We finally saw an adult Cassowary but it lacked everything good about seeing the baby one at Margarets. The kangaroos roaming about outside were the least unpleasent, at least they had a fair bit of space and lots of company...although perhaps that wasn't too good for the pair we saw fighting...those kicks look lethal! Liz had brought some animal food at the enterance (anticipating the place to be much better than it was!) and inspite of all the 'surely this isn't very good for them' obviousness we decided we may as well give them then food, which did give us the opportunity to see lots of the very cute creatures up close, especially memorable/weird being the sight of a joeys head poking out of an adults pouch. Inspite of such sights there was ultimately a sour taste as we left.

The zoo thankfully ever further behind us we drove on into Daintree itself and stopped at an extreenly picturesque lookout that gave us a view right down and around the surrounding area before reaching the ever so slightly sinisterly named Cape Tribulation beach. Here we had some time to explore the beach, it looked very different from the many (many, many...hard life) other beachs I've seen owing to the dull weather and moisture in the air...I mean that as a positive, such an atmopsher suited the place.

We went up the beach and into a resort for lunch. We'd negleted to shell out for the lunch option and so had a packed lunch with us...a BIG packed lunch. Avacardo sandwichs, a box of a sort of crisp/biscuit called Shapes, an orange, some/loads of carrots plus a Turkish delight I'd leave for later in the day. There were also honey sandwichs...but I didn't even attempt to eat these! While I'm rambling about food (it seems a recurring weakness!), we go both biscuits and a lolly on the coach...maybe this tour idea isn't as bad as it appears!

Once lunch was over we left some people at the resort, picked up some more from another and headed over to a boardwalk through the forest. This was great, Shane telling us about various plants and trees as we went through and even though I am becoming a bit to used to walking around such places I try and force myself to appreciate it fully because I know it will be something I'll miss when I'm back home.

From there we headed back to a river we'd gotten a ferry across earlier in the day and jumped on a boat to try and spot some crocodiles. We failed to locate any males but were more successful with some younger specimins as well as a couple of females, one being probablly fully grown at about two and a half metres. It was really ace to see these, especially contrasted to the one in the zoo earlier on. We also saw some snakes, that were a real challenge to tell apart from the tree branchs and a brown bat. It was a really good experience, far better than the kinda comparable dolphin boat trip back in Bunbury, WA. Perhaps that's just because I didn't feel so sick on such calm waters though!

And that was more or less the day, we drove back south to Cairns, stopping only briefly to enjoy the beach view from another lookout, where we could see a bushfire in progress in the hill/mountain above.

...and that's all for Cairns really. Where will we go next? Someplace new perhaps? Don't bet on it...